Barry Manilow awarded a Kansas City area music teacher $10,000 during his concert
A Kansas City area music teacher received a gift from Barry Manilow himself during the pop star’s final show in Kansas City on Sunday.
The “Mandy” and “Copacabana” singer announced the winner of the Manilow Music Project’s $10,000 grant in the middle of his show. It went to Jeff Smikahl, a music teacher with Olathe Public Schools for more than 25 years. He was nominated with seven other music teachers in the area in a public vote that ran from April to June.
Manilow gave $10,000 to a music teacher in each city that hosted a show during this tour. Half of the grant will be used for new band instruments for their school and the other half is for the winning teacher.
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Smikahl isn’t sure who nominated him, but said he’s grateful for the support from everyone: former and current students, teachers and parents during his career.
“You don’t get a lot of bonuses as a teacher, so that’s pretty cool,” Smikahl said. “It was a wonderful opportunity, and I’m very thankful.”
It’s not the first time Smikahl was in Manilow’s vicinity. Earlier this year, he took the Olathe East High School band to New York and toured Radio City Music Hall. While on the tour, staff said they couldn’t use a specific elevator because they were setting up for a Barry Manilow concert.
In Kansas City, Smikahl got to talk to Manilow before the show, where they talked about their musical influences and what got Smikahl into teaching. He didn’t reveal specifics about their conversations, but he said Manilow was incredibly kind and easy to talk to after his nerves calmed down.
Smikahl’s mom was a church organist his first piano teacher growing up. He also played the drums as a kid and later became the section leader in high school. He liked the aspect of teaching then and decided to pursue teaching as a career.
Many of his former students now play music professionally and teach others.
The singer started the Manilow Music Project in response to a friend’s request for a saxophone for his high school daughter. Manilow said during the concert that he had been surprised to hear that most public schools were cutting music departments due for budget reasons and that teachers were taking part-time jobs just to buy new or used equipment for their students.
